hitchcock presents

these are reactions to some episodes of "hitchcok presents" and two or three hitchcock films.

Revenge
A young wife seems dazed, raped but the crime is unknown. Her husband bludgeons someone with a pipe when she points and says "he did it."
though the husband thinks he has had his revenge, immediately after he returns from the bludgeoning, the wife points to another man and says "he did it"
male/female modernity.
the only clue: a carnation in her hand when she was discovered after the crime.

Premonition
A man returns home and wants to reconcile with his distant father only to discover that he himself has in fact murdered his father and been put in an isnane asylum.
the camera lies at the beginning when a plane comes in as if the protagonist was arriving from his overseas work as a conductor.

Breakdown
Capitalist gets in a wreck and becomes paralyzed. He gets buried alive but we can hear his voice over.

Back for Christmas
An old man buries his wife.
Scene where he writes as a letter in her voice on the typewriter. keeping her alive through writing.

a bullet for baldwin
an old worker, just fired, kills his boss only to have an imposter, hired by the 2nd in command, replace the boss the next day.
as the 2nd in command assumes control of the firm, the imposter again gets fired and kills his boss.
you can kill your boss but he can always be replaced.

the case of mr. pelham
a man becomes aware that a double of him has been encroaching on his life.
the double becomes him though because the primary man, at least in our eyes, tries to be differentiate himself.
the double starts to succeed as the primary is cast out.

vertigo
creating the other in one's own vision
the alienated james stewart crafts the imposter who fooled him into her previously imposed form as was constructed by the puppet master, the man with the money
who wanted to kill his own wife.
the imposter wants to be loved for who she truly is, whatever that means, while james stewart wants honesty wants reason wants his ideal love.
the ideal created for us by culture at large is what we desire but it itches us. we get perturbed so we craft the real in its image until we find it too disturbing and we want to end it.
the inevitable mourning of the ideal.
but when we come face to face, the guilt jumps out of the dark. there is no escape without the destruction of the selves.

the creeper
a guy goes around the neighborhood killing women (who may just deserve it, according to one old hag).
when the husband of our couple has a beer with a friend:
he's the working man talking with the newspaper man who's been reporting on the creeper
"running out of things to say about him. even running out of theories. next, we'll be runnin' out of women."
the wife used to see the newspaper man
"why do we do it, ed? why do we take it out on on somebody else? especially on someone you love"
"very simple"
"simple?"
"no one else would put up with it"
"yeah, i guess you're right"
"don't worry about it. everybody takes out his grudges on somebody else. usually the wrong person. take our friend here.
he takes it out by killing the woman he's got something against."
"[Laughs] Well, I didn't go that far. You think they'll catch this guy anywheres near soon?"
...the creeper...
the newspaper man likes to hurt people. he pretends the creeper. the young beau. he does kill her but she returns. he loves and hates her for leaving.
the real creeper was a locksmith


babydoll functions similarly

we are all voyeurs. the protagonist. the guilt laden wrong man. transfered guilt.


39 steps
the man with the handcuff. the girl slips out of the other cuff, but she sticks around because she realizes he was only playing as a murderer.